KIX wins DOK.edit Award – presented by Adobe 2024

 

Yaël Bitton and Károly Szalai receive the DOK.edit Award – presented by Adobe 2024 for their work as editors for the film KIX (France/Croatia/Hungary 2024, directed by Bálint Révész and Dávid Mikulán). Sincere congratulations! 


About the film: “It might look like we’re just playing. But this is no game, it is dead serious.” Nobody suspects how much truth lies in Sanyi’s statement when Dávid Mikulán embarks on 10 years of filming the young man. From his cramped flat, where his whole family shares a bedroom and there is no room to breathe, Sanyi escapes to the streets of Budapest with his friends. Katharina Dolles

Credits:
Writer: Dávid Mikulán, Károly Szalay. Camera: Dávid Mikulán. Sound: Ivan Zelić. Editing: Yaël Bitton, Károly Szalai. Production: ELF Pictures. Producer: Viki Réka Kiss. Length: 90 min. International Sales: Institute of Documentary Film

Jury statement

“Colourful lines of chalk on grey asphalt streak across the screen. A skateboard clatters. This is punctuated with the faces of homeless people. “Which is stronger: fate or will?” one of them is asked – “fate” is the answer. The camera follows the chalk lines further and finds their creator: Sanyi, a petite 8-year old boy for whom the streets of Budapest are a big adventure playground. The two filmmakers Bálint Révész and Dávid Mikulán accompany Sanyi and his family for ten years, getting very close to them, and eventually become part of Sanyi’s youth, which is marked by poverty and violence. In the end it remains unclear which was stronger: fate or will? 

Through its expressive editing, KIX follows the exuberant energy of its young protagonist with great empathy and at high speed, and at the same time manages to convey what coming of age means in the shadow of Victor Orbán’s authoritarian Hungary without being voyeuristic but with an engaged sensibility. The film’s editing orchestrates not only the existential kicks in the protagonist’s turbulent adolescence but also his vulnerable side. Sanyi and his family’s desolate lives are directly reflected in the editing, which makes the different physical states of Sanyi’s life tangible: at times it is breathless, chaotic and wild, then slow, forlorn and depressive. In quiet moments of melancholy and loneliness a utopia can be glimpsed between the images: Sanyi’s fate could have been different.

With their radically elliptic narrative style, the two editors succeed in skilfully transporting the audience into the life of Sanyi and his family. We would like to warmly congratulate Yaël Bitton and Károly Szalai for enabling us to simultaneously experience the compelling clarity of what is real and the liberating indeterminacy of what is possible in this film.”

The film at the festival

The winning film KIX will be screened at the 39th DOK.fest München in May 2024:

2 to 12 May at the Munich venues
6 to 20 May @home

The DOK.edit Award – presented by Adobe will be presented at a festive award ceremony with film screening on Friday, 3 May 2024 at 8.00pm at HFF Munich.

An award for outstanding editing work

It has been true for a long time that the finished film is made at the editing table. Even though the work processes are now digitalised, editing remains one of the most central and critical phases in the making of any documentary film. To highlight the importance of editing in documentary film, an editing award will be presented for the fourth time at DOK.fest München 2024 with the DOK.edit Award – presented by Adobe. 

The award was developed in cooperation with Adobe, who are also the sponsors of the 5,000 euros award. Its aim is to shed light on the post-production of documentary films and to honour the work of editors. Films with outstanding editing work are nominated. The prize is awarded across all series.

The nominated films will be presented at the festival with extended Q&As with the jury and the respective editors.

We would like to thank our award donor and partner:

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